KUALA LUMPUR – Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin has slammed Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for declaring that it is “haram” (sinful) to vote for Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Pulai candidate Suhaizan Kayat.
In a brief Twitter post today, Khaled, who is also higher education minister, said former prime minister Muhyiddin’s remarks implied that there is no need for the nation to hold elections nor Parliament to convene.
“Wah, he (Muhyiddin) is a politician, (and also) a mufti. Next time, Malaysia need not hold elections, nor call (the) Parliament into session,” Khaled said in the post in response to a video clip of Muhyiddin’s speech at one of PN’s campaign events in Johor last night.
In his speech, Muhyiddin had deemed it a “sin” for voters to cast their ballots for PH and called on Pulai voters to show their ostensible dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also Pakatan Harapan chairman.
“Don’t give even one vote to (Suhaizan). I deem it as ‘haram’.
“Tomorrow, someone will challenge me on which fatwa this is based on,” Muhyiddin said in a humorous tone to rounds of cheers and laughter from the crowd.
In line with Muhyiddin’s prediction, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today questioned which Islamic principles Muhyiddin had based his assertion on.
Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, said he is confident that mature Pulai voters will not buy into Muhyiddin’s assertions as Johor citizens want a representative who is able to defend their issues.
“I want to ask that person (Muhyiddin), which Quranic verse, hadith, qiyas, or consensus from Islamic scholars did he get this fatwa (religious order)?
“When he (Muhyiddin) was part of the first PH government before this, everything was halal (permissible), but when (PH) is no longer aligned with him, now he starts coming up with all sorts of fatwa,” Zahid said, as quoted by Bernama.
Suhaizan, who is former Johor speaker, will be going against PN’s Zulkifli Jaafar and independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi for the Pulai parliamentary seat.
Voting for the seat will take place on September 9, with early voting set for September 5. – September 3, 2023